Opinion | Gifting good ‘merch’ that keeps on giving

When you buy a gift for someone, you put some thought into it. You consider your relationship to the recipient, their interests and who they are. There is usually intention beyond: “I need to give a gift”.

Why then, do we treat corporate gifting differently? Businesses are wasting money on corporate gifts that aren’t thoughtful or useful, which are doing nothing for their brand. Every branded gift sends a message about a business.

When it’s thoughtful, well made and genuinely useful, it tells people that the brand pays attention to detail and values quality. When it feels generic or disposable, it says the opposite. The problem isn’t with the idea of branded gifts.

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Gifting and branded items are one of the most memorable ways to connect with clients, event attendees, influencers and staff. When done well, a physical gift creates a moment of genuine delight. The problem is that for too many brands, “merch” is a last-minute pick from a catalogue. This isn’t marketing.

It’s landfill with your company’s logo on it. A branded gift only does its job when it is used. Every time a person reaches for that item, whether it’s on their desk, in their home, or on their body, the brand gets a moment of attention. But that only happens if the item is useful and good enough to keep.

A plastic pen that stops clicking after a week doesn’t earn a place on anyone’s desk, and it certainly doesn’t make it into an influencer unboxing video on social media. Generic gifts that say nothing about your brand, or have no use for the recipient, will feel disposable.

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Which is the last feeling a gift should evoke. If you’ve peered into a goodie bag on the way home from an event and found a particularly good gift in there, you’ll know that feeling of delight. That’s because people remember how a gift makes them feel. If someone says: “This is beautiful” or, “I actually need this”, when they open a gift, that emotion attaches itself to the brand.

This also means that the branding can afford to be subtle. A tasteful embossed logo, a cool design or a small branded tag on an otherwise beautiful product work because the item earns attention on its own. A brand benefits from that positive feeling rather than fighting for attention against it.

Think useful, beautiful or both. If someone had to ask you what the best branded gift you have received is, your answer would probably be something that was unique, beautiful or useful. The best merch sits in a very specific sweet spot: It’s either useful, beautiful or ideally both.

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Before you decide on any branded item ask yourself honestly “Would I actually use this?” If the answer is no, rethink it. Globally, T-shirts are one of the most popular branded gifts because they reportedly have a high return on investment.

The thinking is, more people will be exposed to the company’s branding as the wearer goes to work, the shops and the gym. But that depends on two things: The recipient actually choosing to wear it, and it being noticeable.

An ordinary branded T-shirt runs the risk of being the thing someone wears to protect their clothes when they paint their house, which means you’ve spent your marketing budget on something few people will see. A good T-shirt goes beyond your logo. Start with the best quality you can afford.

By aligning with the lifestyle brands people choose to spend their own money on, you can make your merch more desirable. It might be more subtle with tone-ontone branding, maybe it signals some level of exclusivity because it is a limited edition, or it has a design that makes people want to wear it.

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Regular trade show attendees will know how brutal hours of standing and walking are on your feet. So if a booth were to give out a branded tin of plasters or a sachet of foot soak to be used at the end of the day, the recipient is far more likely to remember that moment of empathy.

By the same token, you are probably not going to give those plasters and foot soak to new starters in your business or to visiting overseas investors. Thoughtful gifts are contextual, and should speak to the time, place and the recipient.

This is precisely why gifts shouldn’t be a checkbox exercise, ordered en masse at the beginning of the year to be doled out at every opportunity. They should be a considered part of your company’s creative, marketing or PR strategy.

When things are thoughtfully planned, they tell your brand story better, reduce waste and deliver a better return. A thoughtful gift is an investment in how people feel about you long after it has been opened. Make it worth keeping.

Bianca Capazorio is the founder of a media and communications company